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Research confirms extent of Europe’s disappearing farmland birds

Do, 10/29/2009 - 15:47 – Henk Tennekes

New research has shown that Europe’s farmland birds have declined by almost 50% in the past 25 years – a trend caused by EU-wide agricultural intensification being driven by a policy in need of urgent reform. The results bring together the most comprehensive biodiversity indicators of their kind in Europe, collated by the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS) - a partnership led by scientists from the European Bird Census Council, BirdLife International, the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and Statistics Netherlands.

The data was collected from 20 independent breeding bird surveys across Europe over the last 25 years, all of which were coordinated thanks to the concerted efforts of national programmes involving thousands of dedicated volunteer birdwatchers. The results confirm the extent to which farmland birds have declined. Across Europe as a whole from 1980 to 2005, common farmland birds have on average fallen in number by 44%–the most severe decline of the bird categories monitored.

“Birds can be vital barometers of environmental change – their declines are clear evidence of the environmental degradation that has occurred across European farmland,” said Dr Richard Gregory, Chairman of the European Bird Census Council, and Head of Monitoring and Indicators at the RSPB. “The data are staring us in the face: many farmland birds -and the species and habitats with which they coexist- are under serious threat.”

The bird organisations involved in the study are calling for a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a system of European Union subsidies and programmes that has led to considerable agricultural intensification in EU Member States. Although this drive has lessened with successive reforms, the CAP still appears to fail farmland birds and the European environment in general.

“These results show how urgently we need a complete reform of the Common Agriculture Policy, to deliver targeted support for high nature value farming systems and farmed Natura 2000 sites, and to support farmers in delivering environmental improvements throughout the countryside,” said Ariel Brunner, BirdLife’s EU Agriculture Policy Officer, based in Brussels.

Most concerning is the likelihood of rapid farmland bird declines in new EU Member States that hold some of Europe’s largest concentrations of farmland birds. The study indicates that declines in farmland birds in new EU Member States mirror those declines of more established EU Member States. The fear is that EU accession may accelerate and worsen the situation.

“The EU has made encouraging strides forward in environmental legislation, yet for farmland -which accounts for nearly half of the total land surface of Europe- we are working to an outdated policy that still encourages unsustainable intensive farming, while failing to support those extensive farming systems that are vital for biodiversity conservation and rural economies,” said Brunner.

Findings from the study also show declines for forest birds: across Europe as a whole from 1980 to 2005, numbers of common forest birds have fallen on average by 9%.

The researchers highlight that the speed with which forest ecosystems react to changes in management are much slower than in farmlands, so this decline may carry a very serious warning. They are now urging for further studies to investigate the driving factors, management regimes in particular.

Forest bird declines have been particularly severe in the boreal forests of Northern Europe, where they are thought to be threatened by highly intensive forestry exploitation.

"We have the data and the knowledge to help farmland and forest birds, but we need urgently to look deeper into the reasons behind these declines – and to design effective policies that will ensure further losses do not occur,” said Dr Gregory.